--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The mass criminalization of white men…" description: "\"The mass criminalization of white men would disturb us to the core.\" — Michelle Alexander" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba8/michelle-alexander-750_core_the-mass-criminalization-of-white-men-wo_380295.png" --- # The mass criminalization of white men would disturb us to… ![“The mass criminalization of white men would disturb us to the core.” quote by Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba8/michelle-alexander-750_core_the-mass-criminalization-of-white-men-wo_380295.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba8/michelle-alexander-750_core_the-mass-criminalization-of-white-men-wo_380295.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba8/michelle-alexander-750_core_the-mass-criminalization-of-white-men-wo_380295.png) > “The mass criminalization of white men would disturb us to the core.” [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The idea suggests that targeting white men as criminals would fundamentally unsettle societal structures. **In simple terms:** Targeting white men would shock society. Key Takeaway Consider the impact of broad criminalization. Themes justice race societal impact Mood critical provocative Type political social commentary When to use this quote - policy reform - public discourse - legal studies Key Concepts systemic bias power dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How would such a policy affect social stability? - Is focusing on one group effective? A Different Perspective It overlooks existing power imbalances and may distract from systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Core](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/core/) [Criminalization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criminalization-595972/) [Criminalization White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criminalization-white-3450406/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Mass Criminalization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass-criminalization-3450405/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men Disturb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-disturb-770941/) [White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white/) [White man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-man/) [White Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-men/) ## Related quotes > [It is not men that interest or disturb me primarily; it is ideas. Ideas live; men die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/it-is-not-men-that-interest-or-disturb-me-primarily-it-is-ideas-ideas/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [However, white male privilege means white men are not collectively denigrated / targeted for those shootings — even though most come at the hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sirota/however-white-male-privilege-means-white-men-are-not-collectively/) [David Sirota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sirota/) > [From the beginning, the internet has been dominated by white men. So if you wanted to be a part of the internet and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-chu/from-the-beginning-the-internet-has-been-dominated-by-white-men-so-if/) [Arthur Chu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-chu/) > [The white men despise the Indians, and drive them from their homes. But the Indians are not deceitful. The white men speak bad of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-hawk/the-white-men-despise-the-indians-and-drive-them-from-their-homes-but/) [Black Hawk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-hawk/) > [The government at all levels is overly represented by white men. That's part of the problem, and I'm a white man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beto-o-rourke/the-government-at-all-levels-is-overly-represented-by-white-men-that/) [Beto O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beto-o-rourke/) > [When the Negro finds the courage to be free, he faces dogs and guns and clubs and fire hoses totally unafraid, and the white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/when-the-negro-finds-the-courage-to-be-free-he-faces-dogs-and-guns/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The first white men of your people who came to our country were named Lewis and Clark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-joseph/the-first-white-men-of-your-people-who-came-to-our-country-were-named/) [Chief Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-joseph/) > [We must have an America in which White men and women can live and work, in their homes and in the streets of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lincoln-rockwell/we-must-have-an-america-in-which-white-men-and-women-can-live-and/) [George Lincoln Rockwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lincoln-rockwell/) > [We have heard stories about white men who make the powerful guns and the strong drinks and took slaves away across the seas, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/we-have-heard-stories-about-white-men-who-make-the-powerful-guns-and/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [These European White Men, then, with civilization in their blood and in their destiny, crossed the Atlantic and set up a new civilization on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-klassen/these-european-white-men-then-with-civilization-in-their-blood-and-in/) [Ben Klassen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-klassen/) > [White men should exhibit the same insensibility to moral tortures that red men do to physical torments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/white-men-should-exhibit-the-same-insensibility-to-moral-tortures/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [Because white men can’t police their imaginations, black men are dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/because-white-men-can-t-police-their-imaginations-black-men-are-dying/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [You think about every piece of idiomatic speech adopted by white men over the past ten or twenty years; virtually all of it comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-row/you-think-about-every-piece-of-idiomatic-speech-adopted-by-white-men/) [Jess Row](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-row/) > [Golf is a game where white men can dress up as black pimps and get away with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/golf-is-a-game-where-white-men-can-dress-up-as-black-pimps-and-get/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [I have asked some of the great white chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-joseph/i-have-asked-some-of-the-great-white-chiefs-where-they-get-their/) [Chief Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-joseph/) ## More by Michelle Alexander > [If you ask for good schools, you aren't likely to get them. If you ask for jobs or economic investment, you won't get that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/if-you-ask-for-good-schools-you-aren-t-likely-to-get-them-if-you-ask/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [The uncomfortable reality we must face is that California, like the nation as a whole, has treated generations of African Americans and Latinos as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-uncomfortable-reality-we-must-face-is-that-california-like-the/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Seeing race is not the problem. Refusing to care for the people we see is the problem. The fact that the meaning of race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/seeing-race-is-not-the-problem-refusing-to-care-for-the-people-we-see/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Since the nations founding, African Americans repeatedly have been controlled through institutions such as slavery and Jim Crow, which appear to die but then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/since-the-nations-founding-african-americans-repeatedly-have-been/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Felon disenfranchisement laws have been more effective in eliminating black voters in the age of mass incarceration than they were under Jim Crow…These figures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/felon-disenfranchisement-laws-have-been-more-effective-in-eliminating/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“That was King’s dream—a society that is capable of seeing each of us, as we are, with love. That is a goal worth fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/that-was-king-s-dream-a-society-that-is-capable-of-seeing-each-of-us/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Activists take the risks, while advocates are professional tinkerers with the system. What's necessary is for those who are advocates to support those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/activists-take-the-risks-while-advocates-are-professional-tinkerers/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Civil rights protests were frequently depicted as criminal rather than political in nature, and federal courts were accused of excessive “lenience” toward lawlessness, thereby…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/civil-rights-protests-were-frequently-depicted-as-criminal-rather/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [We cannot 'fix' the police without a revolution of values and radical change to the basic structure of our society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/we-cannot-fix-the-police-without-a-revolution-of-values-and-radical/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [If we continue to tell ourselves the popular myths about racial progress or, worse yet, if we say to ourselves that the problem of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/if-we-continue-to-tell-ourselves-the-popular-myths-about-racial/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [The mass incarceration of poor people of color, particularly black men, has emerged as a new caste system, one specifically designed to address the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-mass-incarceration-of-poor-people-of-color-particularly-black-men/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [ “\[T\]he slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery. —W.E.B Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/t-he-slave-went-free-stood-a-brief-moment-in-the-sun-then-moved-back/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [If you take into account prisoners, a large majority of African American men in some urban areas, like Chicago, have been labeled felons for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/if-you-take-into-account-prisoners-a-large-majority-of-african/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“A new civil rights movement cannot be organized around the relics of the earlier system of control if it is to address meaningfully the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/a-new-civil-rights-movement-cannot-be-organized-around-the-relics-of/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [The rules and reasons the political system employs to enforce status relations of any kind, including racial hierarchy, evolve and change as they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-rules-and-reasons-the-political-system-employs-to-enforce-status/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) [Explore all 381 Michelle Alexander quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) ## More Core quotes > [I guess at it's very core love is connection that just makes so much sense you wonder how you used to live before you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-stone/i-guess-at-it-s-very-core-love-is-connection-that-just-makes-so-much/) [Benjamin Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-stone/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [Public infrastructure around the world is facing unprecedented stress, with hurricanes, cyclones, floods and forest fires all increasing in frequency and intensity. It's easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/public-infrastructure-around-the-world-is-facing-unprecedented-stress/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [The language we share is at the core of our identity as citizens, and our ticket to full participation in American political life. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-i-hayakawa/the-language-we-share-is-at-the-core-of-our-identity-as-citizens-and/) [S. I. Hayakawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-i-hayakawa/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [Mass adulation from the multitudes does not penetrate your soul or your core.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosie-o-donnell/mass-adulation-from-the-multitudes-does-not-penetrate-your-soul-or/) [Rosie O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosie-o-donnell/) > [I think we all have a core that's ecstatic, that knows and that looks up in wonder. We all know that there are marvelous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coleman-barks/i-think-we-all-have-a-core-that-s-ecstatic-that-knows-and-that-looks/) [Coleman Barks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coleman-barks/) > [A classic is like a hidden treasure. Its core is buried under so many layers of varnish that it can be reached only by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-louis-barrault/a-classic-is-like-a-hidden-treasure-its-core-is-buried-under-so-many/) [Jean-Louis Barrault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-louis-barrault/) > [I was taking all prints and I brought them to the Magnum meetings, trying the old Josef Koudelka trick: Give them to photographers, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-van-agtmael/i-was-taking-all-prints-and-i-brought-them-to-the-magnum-meetings/) [Peter van Agtmael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-van-agtmael/) > [Love is the supreme form of communication. In the hierarchy of needs, love stands as the supreme developing agent of the humanity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/love-is-the-supreme-form-of-communication-in-the-hierarchy-of-needs/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [I think if something resonates, even if it's surreal, it's because it is relatable and I think that that's a core issue for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kaufman/i-think-if-something-resonates-even-if-it-s-surreal-it-s-because-it/) [Charlie Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kaufman/) > [Consider the core of the mind to be a wagon, with will-power to be carried about in it. Push it to a place where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takuan-soho/consider-the-core-of-the-mind-to-be-a-wagon-with-will-power-to-be/) [Takuan Soho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takuan-soho/) > [Sports have always been a huge part of my life and my conversations. It is a thrill and an honor to be a part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/summer-sanders/sports-have-always-been-a-huge-part-of-my-life-and-my-conversations/) [Summer Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/summer-sanders/) > [Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/most-of-us-think-of-pride-as-self-centeredness-conceit-boastfulness/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [Don't underestimate the power of your vision to change the world. Whether that world is your office, your community, an industry or a global…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-hood/don-t-underestimate-the-power-of-your-vision-to-change-the-world/) [Leroy Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-hood/) [Browse all 1,833 Core quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/core/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The mass criminalization of white men would disturb us to the core.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michelle Alexander" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-mass-criminalization-of-white-men-would-disturb-us-to-the-core/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Core" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-mass-criminalization-of-white-men-would-disturb-us-to-the-core/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba8/michelle-alexander-750_core_the-mass-criminalization-of-white-men-wo_380295.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba8/michelle-alexander-750_core_the-mass-criminalization-of-white-men-wo_380295.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba8/michelle-alexander-750_core_the-mass-criminalization-of-white-men-wo_380295.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The mass criminalization of white men would disturb us to the core.” — Michelle Alexander", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michelle Alexander", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The mass criminalization of white men...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-mass-criminalization-of-white-men-would-disturb-us-to-the-core/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-mass-criminalization-of-white-men-would-disturb-us-to-the-core/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```